Fontana Dam Kids Still Making the Trek Home

When construction of Fontana Dam began in 1942, accommodations for the workers and their families had to be constructed as well. Much like the dam, Fontana Village seemed to spring up over night with housing, restaurants, a barber shop, post office, a theater, hospital, and for those still needing an education, an A-1 rated school.

Around 500 students attended classes at the school, which was also the social, religious, and educational center of the community. Everything from carpentry, arts and crafts, gardening, along with the required reading, writing and arithmetic was taught at the school. Children had the unique opportunity to experience hands-on learning and their love of Fontana followed them well into adulthood.

With the completion of the dam in 1944, most of those families packed up their belongings and departed the area, but the longing to return to what many described as the “most beautiful place on earth,” lingered in their minds and hearts. So began the movement for a Dam Kids Reunion.

The first reunion happened October 4, 1986, and they continue to this day, although the “kids” aren’t so childlike anymore. Around 100 of these “Dam Kids” attended that first reunion, coming home from all parts of the world. One can only imagine the memories that first visit in 40 plus years evoked.

“There we were, the children, coming into a place that never was, and we made it home,” said Ray McDougle, a former “Dam Kid” in a special publication, “A Trip Down Memory Lane,” that was distributed at the annual reunion in 2010. “By 1945, it was all over, and what was, was no more. But in 1986, on a warm October evening, we returned to share and remember. No matter the distance, the years, or the events in life, we are family – and we did come home again.”

“There’s no explaining how a portion of your heart and soul that has laid dormant for 40 years, suddenly comes alive,” said Patsy Davenport, a 1945 Fontana graduate. “The joy, excitement and love are so evident, it’s like time stood still.”

By 1947, the last graduating class ended the era of the “Dam Kids,” and now there are only a handful who remain to make the annual trek home. Eventually the “Dam Kids” will be lost to memory, but as Ray Arrington (deceased in 1988 and a “Dam Kid”) once said in a poem about Fontana, “Now my heart is beating slow, and to Fontana I may never again go. But if you’re ever in the Smokies, and Fontana you can see, if you look long and hard, you just may see me.”

The Fontana Dam Kids have been holding reunions at the resort since 1986. Front
row, from left; Man unknown, woman unknown, Evanell Bradshaw, Mildred Williams, Wanda
Newman, and Bob Kelm. Second row, from left; Man unknown, Dwight Morrow, Jimmy Weldon,
John Barton, Buddy Forster.